A Sobering Loss on Main Street

The roof collapsed last Wedneday morning on 501 Main St., a building constructed in 1894 for the St. Aloysius Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society for its headquarters.

To support its financial needs and to provide income, the society's plan included commercial space on the first floor. And the architectural features incorporated at ground level are spectacular and fine for its day.

The organization organized activities that offered an alternative t0 alcohol consumption and provided participants a chance to do good works for the people of Middletown. By 1900, there were half dozen organizations devoted to abstinence in town, which did not even come close to balancing the number of bars and saloons in downtown.

The organization offered a basketball court on one of the upper floors.  Many former students from St. John's School recall using it in the mid-20th century for their gym classes.

Later, St. Aloysius built a new "clubhouse" on Court Street, directly behind the Main Street Post Office.  It was there in 1910, as seen in the photograph to the right.

The building is now the property of Guilmartin, DiProto & Sokolowski, certified public accountants.

A friend, Dmitri D'Alessandro, owns Middletown Framing on the ground floor of 501 Main St.  He provided me with this unique photo view of the roof, shown to the right. His Facebook page had scores of notes from friends all over the world expressing relief that he and his wife, Rusa D'Alessandro, and baby were not in the building at the time.

He commented on the cause of the collapse last week, based on what he'd learned from officials, "It was from the weight of the snow and ice; the building had a STRUCTURAL failure, not a roof failure, and we are waiting on word [from] the crane company, which will be doing minor demolition on the top to make it safer before anyone can be allowed access."

He also explained that the smoke rising from the back of the building yesterday was from the heating system, which was still on, venting out of both sides of the building.

The building is considered a total loss and will be demolished in the coming days. It's too bad; Main Street will be losing a beautiful storefront and a building that once housed a unique historical legacy.